Sunday, 17 March 2013

Jam Doughnut Muffins

Ah Sunday. The day of the roast and, if I'm lucky, football. However Arsenal played yesterday so it means I have a bit of spare time today while the roast is cooking and what better to do than bake!Now me, I'm a doughnut fiend. I could eat doughnuts all the live long day. But making them at home is really quite fiddly and generally requires a deep fat fryer. Then I came across a recipe of Nigella's, from her "How To Eat" book - Jam Doughnut Muffins. I looked at the recipe, the simplicity of it and the really basic store cupboard ingredients and thought "Well, it's probably not going to be that good, but I'll try" - oh, how wrong I was! They are just delicious, and really, really easy to make. We'll start with the ingredients:125ml milk85ml vegetable oil, plus more for greasing1 large egg1/2 tsp vanilla extract200g self raising flour100g caster sugar12 tsps strawberry jamFor the coating:100g unsalted butter150g granulated sugarI mean, just look at those ingredients. You've probably got them all in your cupboard or fridge already, haven't you? Then what if I told you that you'll be eating one of twelve deliciously jammy, sugary doughnuts within half an hour? SOLD!First, preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5 or 190c. Set out your muffin cases or grease a 12 cup muffin tin. Pour the milk, oil and vanilla extract into a bowl and add the egg. Beat together with a fork, and then add the flour and sugar. Mix until the batter is just combined - trust me, the lumps don't make a difference at all and you don't want to over-mix it. Now, put a spoonful of batter into the first case or hole in the tin. Stop when it's about a third full, then add a teaspoon of jam, then cover that with batter until the case/tin is almost full. It's that easy! Stick them in the oven and check at about 18-20 minutes - when they have gone golden brown and feel springy to the touch, they're done. If in doubt, stick a cocktail stick in at the side and if it comes out clean, they're done. If it has batter on it, you need a few more minutes.

Right, while they're in the oven, melt the butter in a pan (or in a bowl, in the microwave) and pour the sugar onto a large plate or a wide, flat bowl. As soon as the muffins are done, remove them from the cases/tin and cover them in the melting butter before rolling them in the sugar, making sure they are coated all the way round. And that's IT!

And now I've shared that with you, I have to be off to bake some! Have a great Sunday!